Resonance of Fate
by yume girl 91
Summary: The night Ichigo and Rukia met,failure of hers creates a monster out of the overly-protective boy. Returning to Soul Society, a guilt-ridden Rukia joins a Hollow-hunting team.Eventual HichiRukiUlqui


_"There exists a black kingdom which the eyes of man avoid because its landscape fails signally to flatter them. This darkness, which he imagines he can dispense with in describing the light, is error with its unknown characteristics. Error is certainty's constant companion. Error is the corollary of evidence. And anything said about truth may equally well be said about error: the delusion will be no greater."_

_-Louis Aragon_

They said she was lucky to be alive - their voices buffeted around her, unconnected to anything, she wandered away from the medic, another nameless face she didn't know, numbed by the events of the past few hours. Farther off, a figure darted through the open Senkaimon, weaving through the flux of Shinigami to snatch her up in arms that smelled faintly of clove and of long-dried sweat.

Rukia inhaled the familiar fragrance and wondered why she couldn't bring herself to utter anything but his name. "Ren...ji?"

Above, he nodded, briskly. "Yeah. I'm here." Years they had been apart seemed nothing in the face of his relief in finding her whole. In one piece. The first reports had painted a lower-class Hollow mutating into a lizard-like creature which carved a bloody path through the moonlit night.

She shuddered, barely noticing the bronze plaque situated prominently on his left arm, _for the Sixth Division_. Nii-sama had not said a word before her departure. The how-when- jumbled up in her mind until she could no longer think straight, only see the fang-lined mouth ripping into the human's fragile frame. His scream - cry - changing - rippling from a deeper part of the Hollow as he was devoured before her eyes, frozen she was, standing only feet away.

The gore that covered the street and curb arose a deeper gorge to her stomach. Rukia's mouth tasted bitter, bile-filled. She swallowed thickly several times, weakly thumping her old friend, a trace of annoyance in her tone. "Put me down...baka."

He didn't even wail at her punch, setting her down carefully, one arm draped about her shoulders. "Hey...you alright?"

She nodded, trying not to be sick. One of the little girls' hairclips lay in the gutter near their sandal-clad feet. Rukia's eyes tried not to see the pieces of raw scalp and blood clinging to the fastener of the strawberry-shaped item. Renji seemed to sense her pain, intaking a shaky breath, "c'mon, everything'll be taken care of here."

She didn't want to _see_ it anymore.

They moved together, slowly toward the Senkaimon.

All through it, Renji kept his grip on her, afraid perhaps she'd vanish too into the darkness he saw reflected clearly in her violet orbs. "Let's...get you home."

...

The Fourth Division healing center was quiet.

Tucked away in a far more private wing than the usual observation rooms doled out to unlucky participants from sparring contests with the Eleventh; Rukia gazed out the window, the blanket folded neatly to her waist. The bruises to her temple, a few scrapes to her ribs had all been mended within a night by the capable healers of the Fourth Division.

Yet the most obvious one remained. Behind her eyes. Buried within. She had failed the boy and his family. Her mistake had caused him to become a monster. Unconsciously she balled up handfuls of the blanket's edge, Ukitake-Taichou's voice drifting through her mind.

_"We all make mistakes, Rukia."_

_"I know, sir..." her voice had trailed off, unwilling to share the burden weighing down her soul. Ukitake's kindly brown eyes drifted over her, worry flickering in them. "But we learn to carry on."_

_"Of course, sir." She sounded so mechanical, so emotionless, Rukia barely even recognized her own voice. Tremulous inside, her thought revolved around her mistake, a sole question she required in order to find peace. Aware of her Taichou's subtle head shake, she chose the tone of before to allay his concern._

_"Have they killed the Hollow?"_

_A pause, an intake of breath. The day grew colder through the setting of the sun. _

_"No. I'm afraid he escaped the Sugeki-"_

_There was a word she had never heard before. "Pardon, sir. But, Sugeki-? What is that?"_

_"Not many know of their existence, however they are a recently formed team of Shinigami gathered for the sole purpose of hunting down and eradicating high-level threats to the balance."_

_Hollow..hunters? _

_Unaware of her new blossom of thought line, Ukitake went on, graver. "It seems as though the human consumed by the Hollow, became a far more dangerous breed once the soul was crushed. In the human media, it was reported that a truck had crashed into a house in that residential block. All members of the family were killed instantly. . . how I know we both wish it were so."_

_Startled, her violet eyes flickered to his face questioningly._

_"Those are the things we must let go of, Rukia." _

_In her mind's eye, unwittingly aroused by the turn the conversation had gone into, memories of blood splashes, tinny screams their resonant echo torn apart by the sheer force of reiatsu the being emanated. Through her eyes she could still see the little girl dangling in the monster's grasp, she feel the enmity oozing off the creature as it half-turned, cackling_.

_**"I'll never forget your face-"**_

_"-kia. Rukia!" _

_She resurfaced from the pool of memory, eyelids fluttering as she blinked rapidly coming from the dream state. "What? What was it you said...?"_

_Her Taichou sighed, rising steadily, "only that to get some rest. We're all waiting for you down in Thirteenth."_

_She smiled a little - enough to fool him. "Yes. Tell Kiyone..." she trailed off, unsure of what to speak of when other things remained unsettled. "Just give her my best. Oh and Sentaro too! Tell them not to fight so much!" _

_He chuckled lightly, "I will. Not that they ever heed it."_

_Rukia knew to simply smile at that, frown a little teasingly once a mild cough was covered by a shaking hand. "And you, Ukitake-Taichou, sir! Get yourself to bed!" To that he smiled at her concern and strolled back to the door, "you seem a little peaked yourself. Perhaps I'll ask Unohana-san to check up on you, ne?"_

Her smile faded as soon as the door had closed.

_More to watch over her...make sure she did nothing that didn't meet their expectations_.

From that brief interlude before interminable silence descended in the room, alone with her thoughts, Rukia deduced that her nii-sama had spoken nothing of that other matter, one he had deigned to speak to her about the day before.

_"Rukia..." He had entered quietly, imposing presence seeming to wilt the few lilies Renji had brought her, in their vase near the bedside. "I presume you mean to continue your duties to Thirteenth?"_

_"It is my desire to." She had spoken carefully, afraid of being out of turn with the great man. "Yes. Does that displease Nii-sama?" _

_His gaze looked past her to the sunlight streaming through the window. "It does not."_

_Inwardly she was relieved, glad that her mistake had not rendered her incapable of rejoining the Thirteenth. In the same breath, the hope was dashed coldly as Byakuya went on, "however, there must needs be other things that require resolvement."_

_Such as_ - _she knew better than to prompt him. Her nii-sama was a man of few words yet she judged him capable of speaking when he thought was the time to._

_"The clan elders have pressured me as of late to acquire a wife, solidify the Kuchiki clan's position with an heir. This of course means I must choose a suitable woman and beget an heir. I do not wish to be burdened at this time with such a responsibility and propositioned a different course which at first they were reluctant to agree upon."_

_She could guess so. His marrying Hisana and failing to even have a son, had brought a black blot of shame upon their lineage. She didn't dare to think of what her brother had offered by way of compensation instead of himself marrying._

_"..it would strengthen your own ties to the clan." _

_She realized he'd still been talking. A little flushed, she hastily backtracked, "um, nii-sama, I do not understand. What would?"_

_His slate eyes lowered dangerously close to truly meeting her gaze for the first time. "Why, choosing a suitable male from among the relatives of this clan. One has already been put forth as a possible candidate. He is...young, I am told. A skilled swordsman, nevertheless, his duty is to bolster the Sakurazawa bloodline to the main branch of Kuchiki."_

_"So...he is not...a Shinigami." She didn't understand how disappointed she felt. _

_"No. The clan elders have passed him before my inspection the past afternoon." A thinly veiled hint of disgust crept into her nii-sama's tone. "They wish to begin the Yui-no as soon as possible. Sakurazawa Haruka's parents have agreed to the terms-"_

_"But, what about-" my duties to the Thirteenth. _

_Byakuya's gaze flickered to the sunlight again, completely dismissing her hesitation. "You will do what is best for the Clan, as a member of it, you are expected to. It would be unseemly for the mother of the future clan head to remain in active duty."_

_A sob clenched her chest, tightened her throat. Through it all, Rukia remained pale, impassive. _

_"Therefore you will present a formal resignation in one week's time to Ukitake-Taichou. I trust you will see this is the best possible course, Rukia." He stated coolly, closing the one-sided communication with a cursory nod of goodbye and elegant sweep of his haori coat, taking his leave._

_He was...sacrificing her life to suit his own whims. _

The knowledge embittered her, soured her mouth as she thought of the long years of her life left in Seireitei, spent a veritable prisoner in the sumptuous Kuchiki manor forced to breed like a captive animal on a silken pillow.

Rukia closed her eyes, inhaling slowly. The breath filling her lungs did nothing to assuage the tumult raging in her - _she wished - no, wanted it to be her hand that guided the boy - no. He had a name. Kurosaki Ichigo to redemption of the soul_. Though she had known him for so few moments, the refusal to let go, to continue on the path her nii-sama had so coldly laid out for her - lead her to refuse.

Reject it all.

Her orbs fluttered open, her mind gauging soon was the time when Unohana came in - every two hours - undoubtedly ordered by others as the healer knew nothing was truly physically wrong with the patient. Rukia despised deceiving the woman, let alone the sharp disappointment of letting down the expectations of her brother who had given her all worldly goods. But. In this..._this_. She wanted to be selfish. For her grave mistake, for ending the torment Kurosaki Ichigo would endure existing as a Hollow _- for that_, she pushed the blankets back, unhearing of the silent entrance of another.

"Kuchiki Rukia." The soft feminine voice caused the blood in her veins to freeze. Rukia stiffened, gradually easing herself down, to turn, fix a tentative smile of greeting upon her lips.

"Unohana-Taichou." Respectfully, though her hopes of escape were crushed.

The healer set the clipboard in her arms down at the foot of the bed, her look somber. "I assume you understand the position you are in?"

"Yes...ma'am." Dejectedly. In truth she did. They would stop at nothing to force her to comply to the clan's wishes.

"For many yours is enviable position." Unohana said carefully, hiding something within the clasp of her arms to her torso. "Yet I see your mind is not at ease. Can you not seek happiness on this path while still looking backward at the past?"

_No_, she realized, surprised that her thoughts were made so plain to the woman. "No, I can't. It was my fault. My mistake. How can I have even a degree of comfort knowing it was my lapse of duty to protect that killed them all?"

Unohana inclined her head after a long moment of pensive watching from deep sapphire eyes, "yours is a true spirit, I see, Kuchiki Rukia-san."

"It isn't." She was quick to dismiss. She wasn't a good person - far from it - Kaien's death had taught her that while this...had shown how ugly her soul truly was. "I'm not, Unohana-Taichou..." then to her surprise, the healer moved closer, setting her burden down. Rukia's gaze drifted to the waraji sandals, then questioningly back to the woman.

"I don't..."

"Kuchiki-Taichou left orders for you to be guarded outside this room, day and night."

Their eyes met, Unohana's was at once sad, compassionate.

"I haven't a doubt that he believes this best for you. What he doesn't understand is your heart, Kuchiki-san. I..am a healer of the body, but even I can see the wounds your heart and mind bear. Those are the ones that only you can seal by embarking on the course you feel is right."

Rukia gazed at her the longest time, surprised that she had been able to find such sympathy and understanding in the older woman. "Unohana-Taichou...I don't know what to say-"

"Then, don't." The healer interceded swiftly, withdrawing a small scroll from her sleeve, "I was entrusted by Ukitake-Taichou to give this to you depending on your actions."

She took it, breaking the tiny wax seal to find a map of Seireitei in ink, a star marked a spot somewhere in the northern quadrant.

"Your Zanpaku-to is being kept at the Kuchiki compound. Take care not to be seen." Unohana warned; Rukia nodded absently, slipping the sandals on, fastening the straps around her ankles.

"I believe you will need it." she intoned as Rukia clambered onto the sill, pushing aside the window panel in its casing. She never looked back.

...

It was relatively easy to slip into the mansion, slipping silently through the empty corridors to her wing of the house, the farthest from her brother's quarters. Once inside the set of darkened rooms, she went straight for the innermost bedchamber where reposing on a lacquered stand, Sode no Shirayuki gleamed sedately.

Rukia hesitated long enough to exchange her white yukata from the healing center for black robes. Her final piece to slip Sode no Shirayuki through her sash and drag a comb through her hair. Past the locked doors to the veranda, she could hear the rasping aged voice of the senior retainer directing a quartet of other servants _to place the flowers in an aesthetically pleasing design upon the grounds of the garden._

She did not wish to hear any more details about the 'celebration', hastily slipping away as shadow-like as she had come. Once past the confining walls of the mansion, she leapt from building to building, wending her way deeper into the heart of the white city, evading those reiatsus whom were familiar, masking hers as tightly as possible as she followed the image of the map imprinted to her memory.

Eventually, she dropped to the street level, entering a quieter district. The moment she stepped inside the street, she felt a strange sort of tug in the center of her being. Rukia vaguely recognized it as an invisible barrier, surprised by the lack of hindrance, she proceeded on, wandering further into the deserted boulevard.

At the very end of the block, she stopped, pivoting to face a two-story structure similar to all the rest on the cul-de-sac walled street. Squaring her shoulders, she walked up to the door panel and knocked twice, hearing nothing but the rapid pounding of her heart in her ears.

_All this way_...refusing to give in to the despair threatening to rise, she tried the door, surprised when it rattled back noisily to reveal a large non-descript room where a step midway in lead to another door against the back wall. Four pairs of sandals remained below, waiting for their owners to come out and claim them.

Rukia ever mindful of the tradition, left her sandals beside the smallest in the set and advanced cautiously to the other door, whereupon opening it discovered it to be a smaller room with pegs adorning one side of the four walls, a set of black haori coats hung from them, stripes of red symbols on each. From there, she paused, hearing the sudden burst of raucous laughter - male laughter, and steeling herself, pushed open the latest door to the largest room by far.

A set of interconnecting sofas resided a few feet away, three crimson-kimono-clad Shinigami sat, one a woman with a severe cut to her hair, seemed oblivious to Rukia's entrance, as she continued perusing a magazine from the living world. The other two, a small frowning blond-pigtailed girl stopped hitting a slender dark-haired male with a scroll, long enough to stare.

The fourth member of the small group leaned against a back wall, tardily lowering the sheaf of papers he was studying to curiously peer at her from behind horn-rimmed frames. "Can I help you?"

"Hey, jerkwad, how'd girly here, get in?" asked the small blonde, who looked vaguely familiar to Rukia. "Dunno, midget-chan." He responded, shifting so he could lean against the back of the sofa, looking her over. Rukia scowled at the attention, directing her gaze to the violet-haired man, "you-you're the Sugeki, right? The Hollow hunters?" The question was one that required asking, no matter the hint of an amused smile on the dark-haired man's mouth. The one leaning against the wall ignored them, fixating a friendly smile on her, "that's right. It's rather unorthodox but are you here about the Karakura mission?"

She couldn't believe her luck, "y-yes! I-I mean no!"

His brow creased, "no?"

She fumbled to think of the right words to convince them to take her on board. The dark-haired male snickered under his breath with her embarrassment, the small girl elbowed him in the ribs and they all earned a brief baleful glower from the woman sitting at the end of the sofa on the curved piece.

Finally it came out. "I want to join your team! I'm a good fighter! I won't-"

"We're not hirin'!" The small blonde's high-pitched voice cut through, ending her failed attempt. The other, raised a placating hand, "be quiet, Hiyori-"

"That's Sarugaki-san to you!" she snapped over her shoulder, leading Rukia to recognize the erstwhile Fukutaichou of Twelfth Division. Rarely seen in the company of the freakish Kurotsuchi, Sarugaki Hiyori remained hidden away in the laboratories of the scientific Division. It was no surprise, given the incident fifty years before with then Taichou Urahara Kisuke's scandal involving the Hollowification of himself and the heiress to the Shihoin clan, which lead to their subsequent order of execution. Kurotsuchi had become Taichou in Urahara's stead.

The man shrugged, "whatever." With effort, he dragged his gaze to her, "You wish to become one of us? That's surprising...uh...as Hiyori-san said, it's unusual for us to accept anyone outside of Gotei 13 appointed Shinigami..." he trailed off, catching sight of the disappointment flickering in her eyes. Rukia's legs urged her to bolt, to crawl to her nii-sama and beg forgiveness for ever wanting to disobey his orders - but a stronger, older part of her made her hold fast.

"But...take a walk with me?" Almost helplessly, he gestured to the other door nearest him. Rukia hardly dared hope, sealing her trembling emotions deep inside as she swept around the sofa, entering first into the cool sterile hallway that ended in a sharp staircase descending to the second floor. A thick plate of glass ran along one wall of the corridor. The man closed the door with a gentle snap and joined her beside the window looking into a room nearly the same size as the one they had left. However the difference was the space was devoid of furniture, bearing only kido seals embedded into the walls and light-colored floor.

"Our interrogation-pseudo training room." He explained lightly. Her gaze flickered to him, and with it, he smiled a little warmer, "I'm the leader of the Sugeki, Kanzaki Karasu. You are?"

"K-Kuchiki Rukia."

"Hmm." He hummed a little, "I thought so. You're Kuchiki-Taichou's sister. I suppose that may hinder things. Uh..don't be nervous!" He smiled suddenly, encouragingly. Rukia straightened her posture, looking him in the eye. "I'm not!" she denied vehemently, secretly surprised he had been able to read her so well.

"You are." He said so self-assuredly that she wanted to hit him. "It's alright though...just think of it as an interview. For starters, I presume you know we hunt high level Hollows." He waited for her to nod, before continuing. "Well to be entirely honest with you, a Shinigami's job is to preserve the balance, we are just the frontline against more powerful ones. Ones that for the last few centuries have not evolved yet all that has changed within the space of twenty years. The Research and Development Division has kept confidential certain reports that seem to suggest small groups of near Vasto Lordes level Hollows gathering to the north of the Menos Forest. Part of our job is to capture specimens and try to figure out what's causing their evolution."

Her eyes widened fractionally larger. Most Shinigami had never seen the ultimate form of the Hollow race, save for in textbook depictions. The fact that more than one existed, had been picked up by scanners and kept secret from the general populace was alarming to say the least. "S-should you be telling me this?" she asked, forcing her voice not to shake. Kanzaki noticed her tremor, shaking his head minutely, "there isn't much you could do with that information, Kuchiki-san. Besides, the moment I saw you, it seemed something clicked." He held her gaze warmly.

"Something tells me you belong here."

She released the breath she'd been holding, the silence that fell between them lost its tension and seemed almost comfortable. A feeling she hadn't enjoyed in ever _so long...not since Kaien-dono._ ...

"Moving on then." Kanzaki said cheerfully enough, "you're aware of the risks our duties entail. That being said, I'm not so familiar with current ranks of the entire Gotei 13. What seated position are you at now, Kuchiki-san?"

This time she couldn't withhold the flush from heating up her face. "I-I'm not..." she murmured in a tiny voice, recalling with lucid clarity the day of her induction ceremony to Thirteenth. Kanzaki's smile faltered some, "ah...well." He scratched the back of his head, trying to think of something else to say.

Rukia sensed his uncertainty and felt she had to speak, "I.."

"Yes?"

"..I'm good at Kido, sir. I had the highest marks in my class and-"

His violet brow lifted slightly, "well we have an excellent kido user already. Enhanced Shunpo perhaps?"

She fought the sinking futility of hopelessness gripping her, shaking her head in the negative. Her Zanjutsu was average, her Hakuda semi-good but no better than most. She wanted to plead - but that was beneath her - she wanted - no needed this. But she could not beg so remained silent, pale as he pondered what to do. At length Kanzaki straightened his stance from leaning against the wall, his reiatsu vibrated suddenly in steady waves from his aura. Surprised, she took half a step back as three crackling blurs preceded the door banging open.

"Where's the fire?" Hiyori snapped, her blazing light brown eyes flickered quickly around assessing the scene. The taller male, peered around more slowly, his motions careful, controlled. "What's going on, chief?"

Only the glasses-wearing woman remained silent, her stance taut, the only thing betraying her apprehension. Rukia wished she had the same self-control. Kanzaki rolled his shoulders, nodding to the glass-walled room, "Amakusa, Sakurai, watch with me. Hiyori, you and Kuchiki-san one on one."

The blonde Fukutaichou smirked and tossed Rukia a triumphant glare, "yeah! Do I get ta kill the 'hime too?"

Kanzaki fixed his glasses with a sigh. "No. No one gets to kill anyone-"

"Awww! Sucks, four-eyes! What's the point then?" Hiyori stamped her small foot, sending a ripple into the floor that suspiciously sounded like a crack in the structure; Kanzaki looked unimpressed at her tirade. The one called Amakusa, discreetly rolled his eyes to the ceiling, "watch yourself, midget-chan. Last time you boasted about killin' me, you got a face full of Raikoho." Then with a lazy wink in Rukia's direction, a smirk dangled on the edges of his lips. "My yen's on you, 'yori-honey though I say Kuchiki-hime's lookin' better than you."

Unsuccessfully, Hiyori tried to land a flying punch, Amakusa stepped back, chuckling lightly under his breath when she collided into the wall. The fourth hunter made a face at their childishness, speaking for the first time, "Kanzaki, are you sure about this? This girl is Kuchiki-Taichou's sister. Whether or not we have a higher jurisdiction to the Gotei-"

"I'm sure, Rizu." Kanzaki interrupted smoothly, with a hint of authority in his tone, nodding to Hiyori's fist-cradling, Amakusa's cat-ate-the canary smile. "Let's get on with this. Amakusa you know what to do...activate the barrier once they're inside."

The man shrugged fluidly, moving past them to run his reishii-coated fingers to an invisible seam in the wall. The outline of a door appeared on the smooth surface, the vibration of power prevalent in the air caused the fine hairs on Rukia's arms to rise, chills to break out on her skin. _Whoever Amakusa had been before the Sugeki, he was talented...extraordinarily so in the art of Kido_.

Hiyori entered first, her socked feet thumping dismally into the confined space. In passing Amakusa, she had received another wink, and soft murmur, "good luck, little 'hime." Rukia ignored the allusion to her noblity, not stopping until she turned perfectly in the middle of the floor to face her opponent. Amakusa's smile disappeared with the closing of the door, true to his order, a sudden fluctuation in power wavered all around them. Hiyori sucked her teeth, casting an irritated glance to the glass window, Rukia risked a glance and saw Amakusa's finger waggle before the glassine box erupted from the floor upward, encasing them completely in a cage of pure energy.

"Don't be gapin'!" Hiyori snapped, harsh brown eyes swinging back and narrowing on her. "That jerkwad's one of the best kido users I've ever seen! A little barrier like this ain't nothin'!"

She half-nodded, still in some awe over the amount of energy the man had summoned - _within seconds it seemed_. _Controlled. Shaped_. "Is that so?" _were they all this good? A hundred times better than her?_ From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed a sliver of Hiyori's suddenly malicious smirk.

"'course...all that power's gotta be detrimental to somethin'."

"What do you mean?"

But the Fukutaichou of Twelfth said nothing, retaining her _scary_ smile as her tiny hand snatched at the hilt of her sword, inching it by gleaming inch out. "Let's cut the talk, Kuchiki 'hime. The sooner I send your scrawny ass cryin' back to the Kuchikis fold, then the sooner we can get back on the mission."

Rukia's violet eyes narrowed, unconscious though she was of the dawning sensation, she was...enjoying herself, even with the taunts of the small blonde. _It was something she had not felt in a long time_. "I won't cry, Sarugaki-Fukutaichou." She withdrew her scabbard, holding it out in front of her, elegantly gliding it counter-clockwise. "And I'm not 'hime' either."

Hiyori's fang-like longer tooth protruded from one side of her mouth, "fair enough. Buttegire, Kubikiri Orochi!" Her reiatsu spiraled out in pink waves. Rukia felt the icy connection between her and her sword respond to the sight of the cleaver-like short blade in her opponent's hand.

"Mai, Sode no Shirayuki!"

...

With each strike, countered, guard broken, uppercuts by a whistling blade and smirking girl; Rukia could appreciate the strength of a Fukutaichou. There was a great gap between she and this other. Where Rukia _danced_ her white ribbon trailing in icy swirls, pattering the air with cool wind; Hiyori _thundered_, sent tremors into the ground and hurled irritating invectives meant to arouse angry strikes.

Sode no Shirayuki whispered - _patience_.

Her wielder agreed, eyes darting to the socked feet shifting against the floor, bounding off to gain the most momentum to prepare a downward strike with full force meant.

Hiyori leapt.

Rukia twisted her white sword, commanding impassively, "Juhaku."

The white ice framed the freckled little face in startlement before the ice tree grew.

...

Kanzaki was the first through the door, clapping enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear. Amakusa followed at his heels, dispelling the kido to a light splash against the rime-coated floor. Sakurai hung back, proceeding the slowest, pushing her horn-rimmed glasses further up a thin pointed nose, disapproval faint in her manner.

"Excellent! Exactly what we need!" Kanzaki reached her, patting her swiftly on the shoulder, his excited breath exiting in white puffs from his mouth. "You've done well, Kuchiki-san. I've no doubt you can contain the kind of being we hunt."

She nodded slightly. So it hadn't escaped his notice how she had held back from _harming_ Sarugaki, not that the midget blonde cared. Shrieks started up directed toward Amakusa who failed twice to pluck the Fukutaichou from the center of the ice tree. He had jerked away from the glittering white, hissing at his burning hands.

Kanzaki dismissed them with a shake of his head, "so, you still want it?"

She nodded, dismissing her shikai with a subtle lessening of the ice-tinting the air. Instantly the ice tree evaporated, sending the small girl plummeting into Amakusa's arms - that innocuous action earned a punch to the jaw and a growl from the man.

"Let me go, jerkwad!"

"That's what you call your savior, midget-bitch?"

"I'm not a bitch, jerkoff!"

Wisely Kanzaki put his back to the quarrelling pair, extending his fingerless black tekkou-covered hand, "welcome to the Sugeki, Kuchiki-san."

-TBC

Disclaimer: don't own Bleach, Louis Aragon's quote, nor ocs mentioned herein.

AN: The original draft of this fic was lost yesterday evening and I could not recover it ): damned Microsoft. This will contain - hopefully by next chapter, HichiRuki and some UlquiRuki leading to HichiRukiUlqui.

Timeline: basically a skewed version of the canon we know. Turn-back-the-pendulum didn't happen except that Hikifune left and Urahara became Taichou. So all the Vizards are not Vizards but still respected members of the Gotei 13, Shinji is around and so is Aizen.

No flames-haters-stupid comments!

Reviews loved :~)


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